Parliament Hill was rocked Wednesday by accusations that two Liberal MPs are responsible for “serious personal misconduct” in how they dealt with two female New Democrat MPs.

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau suspended Liberals Massimo Pacetti and Scott Andrews from the party over the allegations. He also suspended their candidacies for the next election pending an investigation.

The explosive revelation leaves the House of Commons struggling to figure out how to properly investigate the accusations.

Neither the nature of the misconduct, nor the identity of the two New Democrats who lodged the complaints, has been detailed by any of the parties. Both Pacetti and Andrews deny wrongdoing.

Andrews wrote that he wants the House of Commons Speaker and Commons Board of Internal Economy to quickly establish a process for investigating the “allegation of harassment.

“Parliament needs to be a workplace free of harassment, for both staff and MPs,” he wrote, adding he will fully co-operate with an independent investigator.

“I am confident such a process will find that no harassment has occurred.”

Pacetti said he learned at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday that he was suspended because of allegations of personal misconduct. “I have not been provided with the specific details of the allegations that led to this suspension,” he said.

He also said he will co-operate fully with an investigation “which I am confident will exonerate me.”

The allegations, coming in the wake of publicity over broadcaster Jian Ghomeshi’s firing by the CBC amid accusations of inappropriate sexual behaviour, came as a bombshell to the parties at their weekly caucus meetings Wednesday.

None of the parties would say directly whether sexual harassment is involved in the allegations.

In a letter, Liberal party whip Judy Foote asked Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer to investigate allegations of “personal misconduct” on the part of the two Liberal MPs against two other MPs from another party.

Foote did not identify any of the MPs in her letter, but the party quickly confirmed that they are Pacetti, a Quebec MP, and Andrews, a Newfoundland MP who was the Liberal ethics critic.

“We’re deeply saddened by these serious allegations,” said Mulcair. “Members of Parliament from all parties have to take these matters seriously.”

“Here on Parliament Hill and in every workplace, women have a right to be in a secure work environment … free of harassment.”

Mulcair declined to answer further questions.

Trudeau then faced journalists to confirm that he had suspended Pacetti and Andrews from caucus “pending the outcome of an investigation.

“These two members of Parliament have been accused of serious personal misconduct by Members of Parliament from another party,” said Trudeau. “In one of the cases, that information was conveyed to me personally and directly, by one of the affected MPs from another party, on Oct. 28th.”

That conversation occurred when Trudeau and MPs from various parties travelled together to Hamilton, Ont. for the funeral of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, slain by a gunman at the National War Memorial six days earlier.

After the funeral, Trudeau was on a bus on his way back to the airport to fly to Ottawa, when an NDP MP approached him to share an allegation of misconduct against one of the Liberal MPs.

Trudeau said he immediately directed Foote to make her counterpart from the other party aware of this. He did not identify the party but sources confirm the NDP’s whip, Nycole Turmel, was told of the allegations.

On Oct. 30, Foote met with Turmel and the two NDP MPs.

“During the course of that meeting, both MPs confirmed the personal misconduct allegations against Mr. Pacetti and Mr. Andrews,” said Trudeau.

Trudeau said he asked Speaker Scheer to “investigate further and resolve this matter.

“I am aware of how difficult it is for people to come forward. I believe strongly that those of us in positions of authority have a duty to act upon allegations of this nature.

“The action must be fair, but decisive. It must be sensitive to all affected parties, but, recognizing how difficult it is to do so, it must give the benefit of the doubt to those who come forward.”

It is unclear how an investigation will proceed. In her letter, Foote said there is “no precedent or established process” for dealing with allegations of misconduct in which the complaints are among MPs themselves, not staff.

She said investigating the allegations will require the involvement of a “neutral third party trusted by all concerned.”

Scheer’s office released a statement saying he “takes the matter very seriously.”

“The Speaker has also directed that the matter be taken up at the Board of Internal Economy at the earliest available opportunity.”

Treasury Board president Tony Clement said an allegation of any kind of harassment on Parliament Hill “is everybody’s business.”

“Speaking as an MP, any allegation of this sort is a serious allegation. It has to be investigated properly and thoroughly, and if there is an infraction, there has to be justice and sanctions, in my opinion,” the Conservative minister told reporters.

Other recent cases

Allegations of sexual and verbal harassment related to parliamentarians and federal departments and agencies have garnered significant attention in recent months:

– Long-time senator Colin Kenny was cleared in May after the whips for the Conservatives and Senate Liberals sided with an independent investigator who concluded there was insufficient evidence that he had harassed a former employee.

– The Canadian Forces have also been on the defensive over allegations that sexual harassment is rampant in the Canadian military.

Gen. Tom Lawson, Canada’s chief of defence staff, announced last spring an independent, external investigation into allegations of sexual harassment in the Canadian Forces, saying it’s possible some victims were not coming forward and that “there is an underreporting going on.”

Marie Deschamps, a former Supreme Court of Canada justice, was called in to conduct the external review into sexual misconduct and sexual harassment in the Canadian Armed Forces. The review was launched June 30 and she is expected to report back in the spring of 2015.

– In recent days, the taxpayer-funded CBC, a Crown corporation, and former host Jian Ghomeshi have each called in high-profile lawyers amid allegations of sexual harassment and violence toward women by the former star host for the public broadcaster.

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